Review: Who Killed Palomino Molero? by Mario Vargas Llosa

Palomino Molero [a name that means male palomino horse and miller--or possibly one who grinds (gets ground up?)], a young man who didn't have to enlist, enlists.  But he goes AWOL.  Later, he croon a woman Talara Air Force Base in  Peru although who he's crooning is a mystery, except to those who viciously killed him and most of the Air Base itself, which is out of the jurisdiction of the two detectives on the case:  Lieutenant Silva and Officer Lituma.  The colonel isn't cooperating and Silva suspects the colonel is involved somehow--perhaps involving his own out-of-control daughter.

Silva and Lituma cast their nets wider and come up with a drunken pilot who is slowly coming around to giving information when the MP pick him up and escort him away.

Many great Latin American moments shine through the text  which many outside their culture might miss:

"Lituma got up quickly and followed [Silva] out, forgetting to bid Doña Lupe farewell."

This is a breach of etiquette that glimpses Lituma's mental state.  Often, I walk into an office and must remind myself to greet everyone.  If I forget--the American way is to get business taken care of--my reception is greeted a little icily.  Therefore, Lituma is very preoccupied to have done so.

The novel treats love--what is it and what would you do to get it?--as well as trying to get work done in the midst of government corruption.  Even our heroes get involved in their corruption where the themes collide (Silva is in love with an older, married woman and invites Lituma to see why Silva's in love with her):

" 'My little Chubby belongs to a superior race of women:  those who don't wear panties.  Think of all the advantages....'

" Lieutenant Silva passed him the binoculars, but no matter how much he squinted,  he didn't really see to much.  Doña Adriana bathed right at the edge of the water."

This serves as a metaphor for the differences between the two men:  Silva can see the strength and desirability in this stout, older woman.  Lituma cannot.  Silva can also read between the lines in people's testimonies and get what he needs from them.  Silva is Sherlock Holmes; Lituma, the impressed if befuddled Watson.

Of course, they get caught:

" 'And what else?' said the girl, standing behind them.... 'You're not only pigs, but you abuse authority, too.  You call yourselves policemen?  You're even worse than people say you are."

Silva's reply is a genius lie, and unfortunately, too often occurs among those for whom lying is easy, even when you're clearly caught (something you hear a lot as a teacher):

"It's dangerous to surprise the police when they're involved in their work, [M]iss.  Suppose I turned around shooting?...  This point is a natural lookout.   We use it to keep track of boats bringing in contraband from Ecuador....  Besides,[M]iss..., insults from you are like roses to a gentleman."

Clearly, the book has not only a strong plot but also a strong character dynamic which helps if you are familiar with the culture.  It's a page-turner that also provokes thought and makes you squirm.  Worth checking out.

“[A] great story... return[s] to real life with a heightened sensitivity to its limitations and imperfections.”

-- Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa

Interesting if discursive meditations on the art of writing.

“What is the origin... of the literary vocation, for inventing beings and stories?  [R]ebellion.  [Writers] demonstrate indirectly their rejection and criticism of life as it is... and manifest their desire to substitute for it the creations of their imagination and dreams.” 

 -- Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa

Interesting if discursive meditations on the art of writing.

“[Writing’s] a mysterious business... veiled in doubt and subjectivity.  But that doesn’t stop us from trying to explain it rationally, rejecting the religious fervor and pride of the self-important myths the romantics spun round it.”

-- Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa

Interesting if discursive meditations on the art of writing.

Mario Vargas Llosa on "In Praise of Reading and Fiction"

Mario Vargas Llosa's Nobel prize speech:

• "Mario Vargas Llosa - Nobel Lecture: In Praise of Reading and Fiction". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 6 Aug 2013.
• Ebook (same as above link)
• Alan Cheuse contrasts Vargas Llosa's speech against Philip Roth's on why he's hanging up his writing hat.
  
  In praise of reading: 
• "[Reading] is the most important thing that ever happened to me."
• "Reading changed dreams into life and life into dreams and placed the universe of literature within reach of the boy I once was."
• "[C]ivilization is now less cruel than when storytellers began to humanize life with their fables."
  
  On writing motivation and models:
• "[T]he first things I wrote were continuations of the stories I read because it made me sad when they concluded or because I wanted to change their endings."
• "Fortunately, the masters were there, teachers to learn from."
• "[H]eroism and the epic are as possible in the present"

“The defining characteristic of [those who possess] the literary vocation may be... the exercise of their craft as its own reward.”

-- Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa

Interesting if discursive meditations on the art of writing.

Should You Watch/Read Ender's Game? 10 Reasons to Consider

Ender's Game, the movie, comes out on 11/1/13 (trailers), starring Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley.  Card's personal views on gay marriage spurred this campaign.

1. Here is K. W. Jeter's interesting claim:  That voting against the movie before seeing it votes against making movies from living writers.  You can read his reasoning here.
2. I can't find it now, but one writer advocated seeing the movie and donating to your favorite charity.
3. You don't have to agree with an author to read his work.  The same holds true for many authors.  Many left-leaning writers read Robert Heinlein--even when his writing game had fallen.  People still read Ezra Pound, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, or H. P. Lovecraft whose personal beliefs were less pleasant.  I haven't read Mein Kampf, but I don't advocate boycotting it either.  Although I'm a Christian, I read atheist writers and other religious/philosophical affiliations opposed to mine.  Mario Vargas Llosa's Nobel prize speech states the necessary mental state of readers and writers when approaching fiction:
   
   "When [various unfortunate events occur in fiction], the shudder is the same in the reader who worships Buddha, Confucius, Christ, Allah, or is an agnostic, wears a jacket and tie, a jalaba, a kimono, or bombachas."
   
4. Art should be about art or its aesthetics, rather than its advocacy of any one stripe of politics.  Politics change.  What's popular now may fall into disfavor, not only invalidating but also stamping censorship on any literary work.
5. SF is supposed to be a genre of ideas--even or especially ideas we disagree with.
6. The author should be separate from the work, which is not unrelated to Roland Barthes' "The Death of the Author".  In this case, the work has nothing to do with the writer's belief (see discussion of Ender's Game theme here.)
7. Boycotting could have the opposite effect:  Drawing attention to what you what want to hide.
8. You might change your mind, or find that what you thought, wasn't the case.  I once signed a petition against bringing the Martin Scorsese's movie The Last Temptation of Christ to theaters because it misrepresented Christ.  Later, curious, I watched it.  One, the movie opens stating that it was not representing the gospels. Two, while the first half exceeded credibility, the second was extremely moving.  Atheists have said it made them feel religious.
9. I suspect Orson Scott Card bases his belief primarily on religious conviction, not because of animosity. 
10. My strongest claim is that this action advocates a political censorship.  Mario Vargas Llosa writes that dictatorships favor censorship because they fear the imagination.  If we disagree, we are free to state so.  However, if we openly suggest that many should boycott a work because of our disagreements with an author, this opens the door to the same thing happening to works you agree with.  This economic battle hurts no one but the already difficult financial prospects of artists.

Your mileage may vary.  Feel free to comment but with reasons and with courtesy.